Search Leon County Traffic Court Records

How to Search Leon County Traffic Court Records

Leon County traffic cases run through county court and the Clerk's Traffic Division. The Clerk handles payment, school election, partial payment plans, and court-appearance requests. The online tool that most people need is the citation payment page, which shows the citation, the amount due, and the options tied to that ticket. It works for civil traffic citations issued within the last 30 days that you plan to pay in full.

Have the right facts ready before you start. The citation number is the cleanest way in. If you do not have it, you may need the driver name, date of birth, or driver license number to find the case. Read the steps below to move through a standard lookup.

1. Open the Clerk's citation payment page and read the instructions before you click Continue.
2. Enter the citation number, or use the driver name if the citation number is not at hand.
3. Confirm the case matches your offense date and the issuing agency.
4. Review the charge, the amount due, the due date, and the disposition.
5. Pay in full, request school or a partial plan, ask for a court date, or order a copy from the Clerk.

The clock matters. The Clerk gives you 30 calendar days from the date you got the citation to pay in full or pick an allowed option. Count calendar days, not business days.

Which Courts Handle Traffic Cases in Leon County

County court hears traffic in Leon County. The Second Judicial Circuit court-system pages note that county judges handle traffic court matters, while the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller runs the public payment and election workflow. Day to day, that means the Clerk's Traffic Division is who you deal with for paying a ticket, electing driver improvement school, or asking for a court date.

Most civil infractions never need a judge. You resolve them with the Clerk. Some citations do require a hearing, and those move to a county court judge. The offices below handle traffic business in person.

• Clerk Traffic Division - citation payment, school election, partial plans, and status, at 1276 Metropolitan Boulevard, Suite 101, Tallahassee.
• Leon County Courthouse Clerk counter - in-person payment, copies, and filings, at 301 South Monroe Street, Suite 100, Tallahassee.
• Leon County Court judges - contested citations, mandatory appearances, and hearings, at 301 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee.

For the broader court structure and how county court fits with circuit court, see the Leon County Court page and the main court records overview.

Types of Traffic Cases on Record

Traffic records in Leon County cover more than speeding tickets. Most are civil infractions handled under Florida Statutes Chapter 318. The substantive offenses themselves sit in Chapter 316. A few citations carry a mandatory court appearance and cannot be paid online at all. The main groups are listed here.

• Moving violations - speeding, running a signal, careless driving, and similar acts that add points.
• Non-moving and equipment - things like an expired tag or a defective light, often without points.
• Mandatory-appearance citations - load not secured, passing a stopped school bus, child left unattended, and speeding over 30 mph above the limit.
• Crash-related citations - any citation tied to a fatality or serious bodily injury, which requires a court date.
• Commercial and CDL violations - tickets against drivers who hold a commercial license, which carry stricter rules.

Criminal traffic charges are a separate track. A DUI or driving while license suspended case is not an ordinary civil infraction, and it does not follow the Clerk's simple payment path.

What Leon County Traffic Court Records Show

A Leon County traffic record is the court's running file on one citation. It starts with the officer and the alleged violation, then tracks every payment, election, and ruling. The fields below are the core items you are likely to see when you pull up a case.

Citation Number

The identifier on the ticket; the main key for payment and lookup.

Case Number

The court case number, if the citation has been assigned one.

Charge / Statute

The violation description and the Florida statute cited by the officer.

Offense Date

The date of the alleged violation and the issuing agency or officer.

Election / Disposition

Paid, school, partial plan, court appearance, withhold, adjudicated, or dismissed.

Fine and Court Costs

The base fine, court costs, due date, and any added penalties.

Points Status

Whether points apply, which depends on payment, school, or withhold.

Payment history, school completion deadlines, and collection or suspension flags can also appear. Some driver identifiers are collected for the file but may be redacted from public display.

Searching by Citation Number vs by Name

The citation number is the fastest route. It maps to one ticket, so there is no guessing among similar names. Use it whenever you have the paper citation or a payment notice. When the citation is lost, a name search can still find the case, though common names bring back several matches. A date of birth or driver license number helps narrow those down. Format errors on the citation number are the usual reason a lookup fails, so copy it exactly.

The Clerk's payment page leads with the citation number. The fields you may encounter are listed in the table.

Note: a docket can show a citation tied to a crash, but the crash report itself comes from FLHSMV or the investigating agency, not the court file.

Paying or Contesting a Leon County Traffic Ticket

You have four basic moves on a civil citation: pay it, elect driver improvement school, ask for a partial payment plan, or request a court date. Each choice has its own effect on points and your record. Payment can happen online, in person, by mail, or by phone at 850-606-4100. Online payment accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and e-check. The Clerk charges $5 for an e-check and 3.5 percent for any other online payment.

Requesting a court date is a real election, not just a question. By asking for court, you give up the right to pay the civil penalty or attend driver improvement school, and a judge may impose a fine up to $500, require school, or both. Read that option carefully before you sign anything. The steps below walk through the common path.

1. Pull up the citation and check whether it allows online payment or requires a court appearance.
2. Decide to pay in full, elect school, set up a partial plan, or request a court date.
3. If paying, choose your method and submit within 30 calendar days of getting the citation.
4. If electing school, file the election affidavit, pay the fine and court costs, and note the 60-day completion deadline.
5. Keep the citation, the receipt, and any confirmation, and verify your driver status with FLHSMV afterward.

Pay by mail at Leon County Clerk & Comptroller, ATTN: Traffic Payments, 1276 Metropolitan Boulevard, #101, Tallahassee, FL 32312. In person, use the Metropolitan Boulevard office or the courthouse counter at 301 South Monroe Street, Suite 100.

Public Access Laws for Traffic Court Records

Florida treats court files and agency records on two tracks. Court traffic records follow Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.420, which sets public access while listing confidential judicial records. Agency records open under Chapter 119, starting with Florida Statutes section 119.01. Civil traffic infractions themselves are governed by Chapter 318, and the school-election provisions cite section 318.14(9).

Anyone can look up a public traffic docket without giving a reason. Copy and certification fees still apply under the Clerk's fee schedule. One limit to know: civil traffic infractions are excluded from Leon e-certification, so an online certified image is not available for those cases.

Court Traffic Records vs State Driver Records

This is the distinction that matters most. The court traffic record is the Clerk and county court file for one citation. The state driver record belongs to the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles agency and tracks your license history across the whole state. They are different files, kept by different offices, for different reasons. Paying or electing school with the Clerk does not by itself prove your license is clear. You have to check the FLHSMV side too.

The Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles agency publishes driver record products and license information through its official website, which is the place to confirm points and license status.

That state record is where convictions, points, and suspensions land after the court reports the outcome of a Leon County citation. The table below lines up the two files side by side.

Crash reports add a third file. If you need an accident report for insurance, get it from the FLHSMV crash report page, not the court docket.

The court docket may list a citation that came out of a wreck, but the crash report itself is a separate administrative record held by the state or the investigating agency.

CDL and Commercial Driver Records

Drivers who hold a commercial license face stricter rules. A CDL holder may not elect driver improvement school to keep points off the record. That option is closed to them under the Clerk's affidavit terms. The consequences of a conviction can also be more severe for a commercial driver, since federal reporting and disqualification rules sit on top of the ordinary Florida process.

Because of that, a CDL holder should not treat a traffic citation as a routine pay-and-move-on matter. The safest step is to read the citation options closely and, where the stakes are high, get legal advice before electing anything. The county court can hear a contested commercial citation the same as any other.

DUI / DWI Cases

A DUI is a criminal charge, not a civil infraction. It does not follow the Clerk's simple traffic payment path. These cases route to criminal court, carry the chance of jail, probation, and license action, and they show up differently in the record. Certain driving while license suspended charges work the same way.

For full Leon County DUI/DWI case information, see Leon County criminal records.

Deferred Adjudication and Defensive Driving Course

Florida's version of a deferred outcome for a civil ticket is the driver improvement school election. When you qualify and complete it, adjudication is withheld and no points hit your record. You file the Defensive Driving School Election Affidavit with the Clerk, pay the fine and court costs in full, and submit your completion certificate on time. The Clerk will not accept proof of enrollment in place of a completion certificate.

The rules are strict, and missing one can be costly. Key conditions are listed below.

• Pay the fine and court costs within 30 calendar days of getting the citation.
• File the completion certificate with the Clerk within 60 calendar days of the election.
• Wait at least 365 days since your last school election.
• Do not use the election more than five times in your lifetime.
• CDL holders are not eligible, and out-of-county citations are handled in the county where issued.

If you miss the school deadline, the Clerk adds an $18 failed-school penalty, requires the 18 percent school reduction to be paid, may enter a license suspension, and adjudicates guilt with points assessed. A partial payment plan adds a $25 administrative fee at enrollment with a 90-day extension. If the Clerk requests a suspension for noncompliance, a $23 processing fee applies.

Sealing or Expunging Traffic Records

Ordinary civil traffic infractions are not criminal records, so the criminal sealing and expunction statutes do not reach them the same way. A paid or school-resolved infraction stays in the court file and, where it applies, on your FLHSMV driver record for the period the state sets. There is no simple Clerk button to erase a civil citation from the docket.

Criminal traffic charges are different. A DUI or other criminal traffic offense may, in limited cases, qualify for sealing or expunction under Florida law if the outcome and the person's history meet the statute. Those rules and the process live with the criminal side of the court. The court records page and the Clerk of the Circuit Court can point you to the right packet.

Fees for Traffic Record Copies

The Clerk charges set service fees for searching and copying records. A search fee applies per year searched, copies are priced per page, and certification carries its own charge. Online payment of a citation also adds a convenience fee. The amounts below come from the Clerk's published schedule, which controls and can change.

Remember that the FLHSMV driver record is a separate product with its own state fee. To buy a certified court copy in person, bring the citation or case number to the Clerk counter and check current pricing, since fee schedules update over time.

Related Leon County Record Searches

You may also need Leon County criminal records for DUI/DWI cases, the main court records search, warrant records if a failure to appear led to a capias, the Leon County Court page for how traffic fits the court system, or the Clerk of the Circuit Court for copies. The FAQ answers more common questions.